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Patent 2096122 Summary

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Claims and Abstract availability

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(12) Patent: (11) CA 2096122
(54) English Title: FACSIMILE PAGING SYSTEM
(54) French Title: SYSTEME DE RECHERCHE DE FAC-SIMILE
Status: Deemed expired
Bibliographic Data
(51) International Patent Classification (IPC):
  • H04N 1/32 (2006.01)
  • H04W 88/02 (2009.01)
  • G08B 5/22 (2006.01)
  • H04L 12/12 (2006.01)
  • H04N 1/00 (2006.01)
  • H04Q 7/14 (2006.01)
(72) Inventors :
  • DAVIS, WALTER LEE (United States of America)
  • WRIGHT, JAMES A. (United States of America)
(73) Owners :
  • MOTOROLA, INC. (United States of America)
(71) Applicants :
(74) Agent: GOWLING WLG (CANADA) LLP
(74) Associate agent:
(45) Issued: 1996-02-27
(86) PCT Filing Date: 1991-09-20
(87) Open to Public Inspection: 1992-06-22
Examination requested: 1993-05-12
Availability of licence: N/A
(25) Language of filing: English

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT): Yes
(86) PCT Filing Number: PCT/US1991/006791
(87) International Publication Number: WO1992/011615
(85) National Entry: 1993-05-12

(30) Application Priority Data:
Application No. Country/Territory Date
07/632,217 United States of America 1990-12-21

Abstracts

English Abstract






A selective call receiver (100) comprising a
receiver (103), a controller (105), and means for
presenting a recovered source document (113).
The receiver (100) provides a received paging
message that was generated from the facsimile
message of the original source document, then
the received paging message comprising at least
one portion of the original source document and
an address is interpreted and decoded by the
controller. Using the means for presenting (113),
the recovered source document can be exhibited
in a format that substantially resembles the facsi-
mile message of the original source document


Claims

Note: Claims are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.


17
CLAIMS

1. A selective call receiver, comprising:
a receiver that provides a received paging message that
was generated from a facsimile message of an original source
document, the received paging message comprising at least one
portion of the original source document and an address;
a controller that interprets and decodes the received
paging message; and
means for presenting the recovered source document in a
format that substantially resembles the facsimile message of
the original source document.

2. The selective call receiver according to claim 1
wherein the controller comprises
an address decoder for determining the selection of the
selective call receiver;
a data decoder that recovers a data block from the
paging message; and
a processor that decodes the data block to provide a
recovered source document that substantially resembles the
original source document.

3. The selective call receiver according to claim 2
wherein the address decoder comprises a signal processor which
correlates the address with a predetermined address stored in
a non-volatile memory.

4. The selective call receiver according to claim 3
wherein the non-volatile memory comprises a plurality of
registers for retaining at least one configuration word that
establishes the predetermined address of the selective call
receiver.

18
5. The selective call receiver according to claim 1
wherein the means for presenting comprises:
a visual display device capable of producing an image
of the recovered source document that substantially resembles
the the original source document.

6. The selective call receiver according to claim 5
wherein the visual display device operates to generate an
image by controlling at least one picture element in the
visual display device in response to at least one data word in
a section of the recovered source document.

7. The selective call receiver according to claim 6
wherein the at least one data word is a symbol representing an
alphanumeric character.

8. The selective call receiver according to claim 6
wherein the at least one data word is a symbol representing a
graphical object.

9. The selective call receiver according to claim 6
wherein the at least one data word is a symbol representing at
least one element of a graphic bitmapped image.

10. The selective call receiver according to claim 6
wherein the section contains at least one data word.

11. The selective call receiver according to claim 1
wherein the means for presenting comprises:
means for re-assembling at least one section into the
recovered document that substantially resembles the format of
the original source document.

19
12. A facsimile transmission system comprising:
a facsimile message input processor for:
receiving a user identifier and a source document and
processing at least a portion of the source document to yield
a message representing the source document; and
transmitting a paging request comprising the message
representing the source document and a unique identification
code selected in response to the received user identifier; and
a paging terminal operationally coupled to the facsimile
message input processor for:
receiving the paging request transmitted by the
facsimile message input processor;
determining at least one selective call address in
response to the unique identification code received in the
paging request and encoding the message representing the
source document and the at least one selective call address
into a paging message; and
transmitting the paging message to at least one
selective call receiver.

13. The facsimile transmission system according to claim
12 wherein the facsimile message input processor comprises:
a facsimile machine.

14. The facsimile transmission system according to claim
13 wherein the facsimile message input processor comprises:
a message controller coupled to at least one network
interface capable of receiving the source document, the source
document being represented by quantized message data that is
coupled by the message controller to at least one of an image
memory, a symbol recognition processor, and a text memory for
processing thereby resulting in the message representing the
source document


15. The facsimile transmission system according to claim
12 wherein the message representing the source document
comprises:
a selective call address identifying a destination for
the source document;
a message header corresponding to a content of the
message representing the source document; and
a data block containing data representing the source
document.

16. The facsimile transmission system according to claim
12 comprising wherein the message representing the source
document comprises:
an end of data marker.

17. The facsimile transmission system according to claim
15 wherein the message header comprises:
a length parameter representing a length of a data
block.

18. The facsimile transmission system according to claim
15 wherein the message header comprises:
a count parameter representing a number of sections
within a data block.

21
19. The facsimile transmission system according to claim
15 wherein the message header comprises:
an encoding parameter representing an encoding scheme
for a data block.

20. The facsimile transmission system according to claim
15 wherein the message header comprises:
an encryption parameter representing an encryption
scheme for a data block.

21. The facsimile transmission system according to claim
15 wherein the data block comprises:
at least one section of of the source document.

22. The facsimile transmission system according to claim
15 wherein the data block comprises:
a data flag representing a delimiter and specifying an
extent of data and a position for at least one section of the
source document.

23. The facsimile transmission system according to claim
22 wherein the data flag comprises:
a length parameter representing a length of the at least
one section.

24. The facsimile transmission system according to claim
22 wherein the data flag comprises:
an encoding parameter representing an encoding scheme
for the at least one section.

25. The facsimile transmission system according to claim
22 wherein the data flag comprises:
an encryption parameter representing an encryption
scheme for the at least one section.

22
26. In a selective call communication system having a
base station capable of communicating with at least one
selective call receiver, a method comprising the steps of:
at a facsimile message input processor:
receiving a user identifier and a source document;
processing at least a portion of the source document
to yield a message representing the source document; and
transmitting to a paging terminal a paging request
comprising the message representing the source document and a
unique identification code selected in response to the
received user identifier;
at the paging terminal:
receiving the paging request;
determining at least one selective call address in
response to the unique identification code received in the
paging request;
encoding the message representing the source document
and the at least one selective call address into a paging
message; and
transmitting the paging message to at least one
selective call receiver; and
at the at least one selective call receiver:
receiving the paging message; and
presenting the paging message.

27. The method according to claim 26 wherein the step of
receiving a user identifier at the facsimile message input
processor further comprises the step of:
entering the user identifier as a user cap-code.

28. The method according to claim 27 wherein the step of
entering comprises the step of:
keying in the user cap-code.

23
29. The method according to claim 27 wherein the step of
entering comprises the steps of:
keying in an alias; and
recalling in response to the alias the user cap-code
from a memory.

30. The method according to claim 27 wherein the step of
entering comprises the steps of:
scanning an area of the received source document;
recognizing at least one symbol in the area of the
received source document; and
determining the user cap-code in response to the at
least one symbol recognized from the received source document.

31. The method according to claim 26 wherein the step of
processing at least a portion of the source document at the
facsimile message input processor comprises the step of:
mapping the source document into a data block.

32. The method according to claim 31 wherein the step of
mapping comprises the step of:
creating a message header that specifies an extent of
the data block.

33. The method according to claim 31 wherein the step of
mapping comprises the step of:
creating a message header that specifies an encoding
scheme for the data block.

34. The method according to claim 31 wherein the step of
mapping comprises the step of:
creating a message header that specifies an encryption
scheme for the data block.

35. The method according to claim 26 wherein the step of
processing at least a portion of the source document at the
facsimile message input processor comprises the step of:
mapping the source document into at least one section.

24
36 The method according to claim 35 wherein the step of
mapping comprises the step of:
creating a message header.

37. The method according to claim 35 wherein the step of
mapping comprises the step of:
creating a message header having a count parameter
representing a number of sections within a data block.

38. The method according to claim 35 wherein the step of
mapping comprises the step of:
creating a message header having a length parameter
representing the length of a data block.

39. The method according to claim 35 wherein the step of
mapping comprises the step of:
creating a message header having an encoding parameter
representing an encoding scheme for a data block.

40. The method according to claim 35 wherein the step of
mapping comprises the step of:
creating a message header having an encryption
parameter representing an encryption scheme for a data block.

41. The method according to claim 35 wherein the step of
mapping comprises the step of:
generating a data flag representing a delimiter and
specifying an extent of data and a position for the at least
one section of the source document.

42. The method according to claim 35 wherein the step of
mapping comprises the step of:
generating a data flag having a length parameter
representing the length of the at least one section.


43. The method according to claim 35 wherein the step of
mapping comprises the step of:
generating a data flag having an encoding parameter
representing an encoding scheme for the at least one section.

44. The method according to claim 35 wherein the step of
mapping comprises the step of:
generating a data flag having an encryption parameter
representing an encryption scheme for the at least one
section.

45. A method of processing a facsimile message comprising
the steps of:
at a facsimile message input processor:
receiving a user identifier and a source document;
processing at least a portion of the source document
to yield a message representing the source document; and
transmitting to a paging terminal a paging request
comprising the message representing the source document and a
unique identification code selected in response to the
received user identifier; and
at the paging terminal:
receiving the paging request;
determining at least one selective call address in
response to the unique identification code received in the
paging request;
encoding a message representing the source document
and the at least one selective call address into a paging
message; and
transmitting the paging message to at least one
selective call receiver.

26
46. In a selective call receiver, a method of receiving a
facsimile message of an original source document comprising
the steps of:
receiving a paging message comprising at least one
portion of the original source document and an address;
recovering a data block from the paging message when
the address correlates with a predetermined address associated
with the selective call receiver;
decoding the data block to provide a recovered source
document that substantially resembles the the original source
document; and
presenting the recovered source document in a format
that substantially resembles the facsimile message of the
original source document.

Description

Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.


WO92/1161~ PCT/US9t/06791

, 1 20~6122
FACSIMILE PAGING SYSTEM

Field of the Invention

This invention relates in general to paging systems
and more particularly to a paging system for the
transmission and reception of facsimile data.

Background of the Invention

Selective call co~ml~n;cation (paging) systems
typically comprise a radio frequency transmitter/encoder
(base station) that is accessed via a link to the Public
Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and a radio receiver
(e.g., a selective call receiver or the like) that has at
least one unique call address associated therewith.
Operationally, the selective call receiver receives and
decodes information transmitted from the base station, the
information having an address and possibly a data or voice
message. When the selective call receiver detects its
address, it typically alerts the user and presents any
received information.
Contemporary paging systems employ messaging schemes
that can deliver a voice, numeric, or alphanumeric
messages to a user. The majority of paging systems
transmit address and message information using a protocol
such as GSC (Motorola's Golay Sequential Code) or POCSAG
(Great Britain's Post Office Code Standardisation Advisory
Group). These protocol formats are well known to one of
ordinary skill in the art of Paging systems. To originate
a message or page, the base station or paging terminal is
typically accessed via the PSTN from a rotary or dual-
tone-multi-frequency (DTMF) telephone. As a voice message
entry device, the telephone is acceptable but when data
needs to be entered, an alternative means of entry is
desirable. Alternative entry devices such as computer
terminals or custom entry devices work well if the
~'

WO92/11615 PCT/US91/06791

2Q96122 2
originator can convey their information to the user in a
textual format. Presently, customer acceptance of these
alternative entry devices has been lacking for reasons of
expense and complexity. Regrettably, if the originator
must convey a large amount of information to the user,
existing paging systems and data transport protocols do
not allow the transmission of either long textual messages
or messages containing graphical data. Thus, for reasons
associated with the data entry problem, most paging
service providers do not provide alphanumeric paging
message services.
In summary, there is a need for an information
transmission system capable of delivering large amounts of
data to a selected user and having a convenient means for
entry of the data. In addition, there is a further need
for a system that will allow information contained on a
printed page to be transmitted to a paging device.

Summary of the Invention
Briefly, according to the invention, there is
provided a selective call receiver comprising a receiver,
a controller, and means for presenting a recovered source
document. The receiver provides a received paging message
that was generated from the facsimile message of the
original source document, then the received paging message
comprising at least one portion of the original source
document and an address is interpreted and decoded by the
controller. Using the means for presenting, the recovered
source document can be exhibited in a format that
substantially resembles the facsimile message of the
original source document.

WO92/11615 PCT/US91/06791
3 2G96122
Brief Description of the Drawings

FIG. l is a block diagram of a selective call
receiver in accordance with the preferred embodiment.
FIG. ~,`is a block diagram of a selective call
information signalling system in accordance with the
present invention.
FIG. 3 illustrates a typical message that may be sent
in accordance with the present invention via the selective
call communication system of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating the encoding of
a typical message by a facsimile message input processor
in accordance with the preferred embodiment.
FIG. 5A is a protocol diagram of a first embodiment
of a selective call signalling format.
FIG. 5B is a protocol diagram of a selective call
signalling format in accordance with the preferred
embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating the operation
of the selective call receiver of FIG. l when receiving a
paging message.

Description of a Preferred Embodiment

Referring to FIG. l, a battery lOl powered selective
call receiver lO0 operates to receive a signal via an
antenna 102. A receiver 103 couples a received signal to
a demodulator 104, which recovers any information present
using conventional techniques. The recovered information
is coupled to a controller 105 that interprets and decodes
the recovered information. In the preferred embodiment,
the controller 105 may comprise a processor 106, address
107 and data 108 decoders implemented in both hardware and
software, and a display driver 109.
The recovered information is checked by the add~ecs
decoder 107, which comprises a signal processor that
correlates a recovered address with a predetermined
address or addresses stored in the selective call

WO92/1161~ PCT/US9l/06791
; 2o~22 4

receiver's 100 non-volatile memory 110. The non-volatile
memory 110 typically has a plurality of registers for
storing a plurality of configuration words that
characterize the operation of the selective call receiver.
In determ;n;ng the selection of the selective call
receiver, a correlation is performed between a
predetermined address associated with the selective call
receiver and a received address. When the addresses
correlate, the controller 105 couples message information
to the message memory 111. In accordance with the
recovered information, and settings associated with the
user controls 112, the selective call receiver presents at
least a portion of the message information, such as by a
display 113, and signals the user via an audible, visual,
or tactile alert 114 that a message has been received.
The user may view the information presented on the display
113 by activating the appropriate controls 112.
The support circuit 115 preferably comprises a
conventional signal multiplexing integrated circuit, a
voltage regulator and control mechanism, a current
regulator and control mechanism, environmental sensing
circuitry such as for light or temperature conditions,
audio power amplifier circuitry, control interface
circuitry, and display illumination circuitry. These
elements are arranged in a known manner to provide the
information display receiver as requested by the customer.
Referring to FIG. 2, a block diagram of a selective
call information signalling system shows a facsimile
message input processor 201 comprising: a conventional
facsimile (FAX) machine 202, an image memory 203, an
symbol recognition processor 204, a text memory 205, a
message controller 206, and a network interface 207. A
source document 208 as shown in FIG. 3 is read (scanned)
by the FAX machine 202 that quantizes the image. The FAX
machine 202 need not be located at the same physical .5it~
as the facsimile message input processor 201, and in fact
can be replaced by a number of devices such as a computer,
a conventional document scanner, or possibly a dedicated

WO92/11615 PCT/US91/06791

5 2 ~ 9 6 1 2 2

message entry device, each communicating with the
facsimile message input processor 201 via the network
interface 207.
In a first embodiment, a user wanting to send a FAX
to a subscriber (a person or device having a selective
call FAX receiver) would call the subscriber's paging
service provider using a conventional telephone and enter
the user's cap-code (a unique number assigned by the
paging service provider that corresponds to the actual
coded address of the pager). The paging service provider
maintains a list of FAX capable cap-codes and upon
receiving the entered cap-code will initiate a procedure
to receive a conventional facsimile message. The user
would then put the conventional facsimile machine 202 on-
line, load, and transmit their document to the facsimilemessage input processor 201 at the paging service
provider. After receipt of the FAX message, the facsimile
message input processor 201 will encode and transmit a
paging message to the targeted subscriber. The method,
protocol, and apparatus required for the transmission of
the paging message will be discussed in detail later.
In a second embodiment, a user wanting to send a FAX
to a subscriber uses a conventional facsimile machine that
has a feature allowing the storage of a list of
predetermined phone numbers. In this embodiment, a FAX
message can be originated either manually by keying in a
phone number or by recalling the phone number from a
memory in the originating FAX machine. The user's cap-
code may be represented by an alias or nickname that
points to a predetermined memory location containing the
cap-code and the phone number of the paging service
provider. When originating a FAX message, the person
sending the message would recall (or dial) the paging
service's number and enter (or the machine would
automatically, upon establishing ~ connection with the
service) the user's cap-code. After successfully
connecting with the paging service provider, the facsimile

WO92/1161~ PCT/US91/06791
~09~2 6

machine would transmit the document to the facsimile
message input processor 201.
In a third embodiment, the conventional facsimile
machine would include a feature allowing the sc~nn;ng of
5 an area of the FAX message for a "key" that selects at
least one paging service and at least one paging user.
The selection of the paging service and target subscriber
may be accomplished by recognizing typewritten or
handwritten characters, a selected "check box," or
lO possibly a bar-code. In any case, the recognized object
may represent either directly (absolute data) or
indirectly (as a pointer to information stored in a memory
location in the facsimile machine) the targeted system and
user. Another alternative might be to affix a pre-printed
15 label to the FAX document in an area, the label cont~;n;ng
coded (e.g., bars, symbols, etc.) information representing
the user's paging service and cap-code. Another option
would be to use pre-printed forms which define the input
area, or by requiring the sender to define the relevant
20 area by drawing a box around the text to be transmitted.
As in the other embodiments, once contact is established
with the paging service, the FAX document is transmitted.
In a fourth embodiment, the FAX machine 202 is
closely coupled to the facsimile message input processor
25 201 as shown in FIG. 2. This preferred embodiment
includes all the capabilities discussed in reference to
the first three embodiments and further improves on their
performance by not requiring a PSTN connection to
originate a paging request. In this embodiment, the
30 facsimile message input processor 201 can be directly
connected to a paging term;n~l 208 via a high speed
network (e.g., RS-232~ IEEE 802.3), thus resulting in
extremely high message throughput. r
When the document has been entered (scanned) into the
FAX machine 202r the message controller 206 directs the
quantized data to at least one of the image memory 203,
the symbol recognition processor 204, and the text memory
205. After storing at least a portion of the document in

WO92/11615 PCT/US91/06791
~ 7 2~9612%

the image memory 203, the message controller 206 begins
processing the document. At this point, the symbol (e.g.,
alphanumeric characters, conventional graphics)
recognition processor 204 is working with at least a
portion of the quantized image that is scanned to
determine which areas comprise recognizable symbols (e.g.,
ASCII text, Kanji, etc.) or graphical data. Using
conventional techniques, the symbol recognition processor
204 then maps (or classifies) the areas in image memory
203 into either symbol or graphical sections. In the
process of mapping the quantized data, each section is
marked for relative (or absolute) page position and its
boundaries on the original document. This process allows
the document to be broken up into its component parts that
may be re-assembled after transmission in response to the
markers corresponding to each section.
After mapping the quantized image, the message
controller 206 directs the symbol recognition processor
204 to identify the symbols in each mapped symbol section.
The resulting codes for the identified symbols are then
stored in the text memory 205. The identification of each
symbol results in a data word that has a one to one
correspondence with the quantized graphical symbol in
image memory 203 from which it was derived. By
identifying the symbols with a data word, the amount of
information that must be encoded, transmitted, received,
and decoded by the selective call information signalling
system is substantially reduced. Using a resolution of
200 by 200 dots per inch (dpi) and assuming a message
cont~;n~ng 35 lines having an average of 50 characters per
line on an A4 page size (approximately 21.0 by 29.7 cm)
and cont~lnlng strictly text, the binary quantization of
that message contains approximately four million bits of
data. To transmit this message, assuming a byte oriented
3~ serial protocol with no error correction, would take 4Q3
seconds at 1200 baud (l baud is defined as l symbol having
8 information bits per second). This transmission time of

WO92/11615 PCT/US91/06791
2~9~
~. 8

almost seven minutes per page is impractical in terms of
the economics of using a radio frequency paging channel.
If the message is sent using a Group III facsimile
(FAX) machine as defined under the CCITT (Consultative
Committee on International Telegraph and Telephone)
Facsimile Standard for Group III facsimile, it is first
encoded using a coding scheme known as the modified
Huffman code. The modified Huffman code uses the standard
Huffman code in conjunction with the modified READ
(Relative Element Addressing Designate) code.
Standard Huffman coding performs a search of n bit
data words and typically uses a predetermined look-up
table to encode "commonly" repeated sequences with words
having less bits than the original data word. Variations
of the standard Huffman code may improve coding efficiency
by forming a dynamic encoding table on the basis of the
statistical occurrence of a pattern within the data stream
being analyzed for encoding.
The Modified READ code is a line-by-line scheme in
which the position of each changing element on the coding
line is coded with respect to either the position of a
corresponding changing element on the reference line,
which lies immediately above the coding line, or with
respect to the preceding changing element on the coding
line. The two modes in the modified READ code are
vertical and horizontal or passing modes. Vertical mode
coding uses only one bit to indicate the situation when a
black pel (picture element) runs of the coding line start
directly under a black pel run of the reference line. If
the changing pel pairs are not within three (3) pels, then
either horizontal or passing mode coding is used. After
the line has been coded, it becomes the reference line for
the next line. Since each coded line becomes the
reference line for the next line, the fact that a single
error can propagate over several lines means that this
method of two-~-mensional coding is vulnerable to
repetitive transmission errors. Therefore, Group III
facsimile uses the modified Huffman coding periodically to

WO92/11615 PCT/US91/06791

9 2~9~12~
prevent an error pattern from developing. At a resolution
of 200 by 200 dpi, every fourth line is coded with the
modified Huffman coding and the rest with the modified
READ code to prevent errors and decrease transmission
time.
Modified Huffman coding takes into account only the
horizontal dependencies between pels on the same scan
line. Operationally, modified Huffman coding works as
described in the following text. Consider an A4 document
that has 1728 pels/line and 3.85 lines/mm. Each scan line
is regarded as sequence of alternating black and white
runs. All scan lines are assumed to start with a white
run length of zero or more bits. The white and black run
lengths of 0 to 63 bits are represented by term;n~ting
code words and white and black run lengths of 64 to 1728
bits are represented by make-up code words followed by
terminating code words. Each code line is then followed
by the end-of-line code word that is a twelve bit code
which cannot be duplicated by any type or combination of
code words. The modified Huffman code described is the
easiest coding scheme to implement and yields an average
compression ratio of about 20:1.
Applying the modified Huffman code discussed above,
the sample message transmission (after scAnn;ng) would
take 92 seconds at 1200 baud (assuming 100 transitions per
text information line and 33% of the document's area
cont~;n;ng text information, yielding approximately 110
Kbytes of data). Applying symbol recognition as discussed
in reference to the preferred embodiment of the facsimile
message input processor 201, this message takes only 1.5
seconds to transmit (approximately 1800 bytes of data).
As can be seen from the previous discussion, transmission
of the message using the facsimile message input processor
201 yields an improvement of 269 times over binary data
and 61 times over Group III facsi~ile machines. When
these examples are presented using a typical over-the-air
coding scheme such as GSC (Motorola's Golay Sequential
Code) or POCSAG (Great Britain's Post Office Code

WO92/1161~ PCT/US9l/06791
2096~ 22 lO
Standardisation Advisory Group), the overhead increases by
the amount of parity bits associated with the code
selected and thus increases the total transmission time by
the ratio of the coded data to the un-coded data. In the
case of GSC which is a (23,12) code (23 total bits of
which 11 are parity bits and 12 are data bits), one would
expect to see an increase in time of approximately 109%
(i.e., 842 seconds for binary, 192 seconds for Group III
FAX, and 3.1 seconds for the facsimile message input
processor 201) as compared to the un-coded data.
Graphical sections can be handled in much the same
way as text by identifying simple graphic shapes (e.g.,
circles, squares, lines, filled areas, etc.) and coding
each with a corresponding unique data word. This
technique can also be applied to complex graphical regions
(e.g., grayscale, color, logos) that cannot be practically
reduced beyond a bitmap. These bitmapped graphical
sections can be coded using conventional one, two, and
three ~lmen~ional compression algorithms similar to the
modified Huffman coding scheme to further reduce the
amount of data that must be transmitted. The graphical
sections can also be adaptively scaled and quantized by
the facsimile message input processor 201 to meet the
requirements of the display 113 of the selective call
receiver 100.
The mapping discussed enables the preferred
embodiment of the selective call information signalling
system to be fully compliant with the 1984 CCITT
recommendations for Group IV facsimile as well as the
existing Group III standard. Group IV facsimile utilizes
mixed mode operation where both facsimile coded
information and character coded information can be treated
within a page by the same apparatus. Group IV facsimile
further offers options like grayscaling and color that are
not available in Group III FAX. Group IV facsimile
includes error checking capabilities and offers five
resolution modes from the lowest of 200 by 200 dpi to the
highest of 480 by 480 dpi.

WO92/11615 PCT/US91/06791
1 1 r
2(~9~;122
The facsimile message input processor 201 is also
capable of=r~eceiving and sending Group III and Group IV
facsimile transmissions via the network interface 207. At
least one input is included to accept Group III
transmissions at 4,800 or 9,600 baud via the public
switched telephone network (PSTN), as well as Group IV
transmissions at 48,000 baud via a high speed data network
such as the emerging Integrated Services Digital Network
(ISDN). The network interface 207 can be expanded to
include hardware that accommodates high speed coaxial or
optical comm~ln;cation to local or wide area networked
computer systems as well as ISDN devices. This gives an
added ~imension of flexibility for the user by allowing
the origination of a FAX directly from any compatible
device on the network.
Once the document 208 has been scanned and processed
by the facsimile message input processor 201, the
resulting coded data is coupled to the paging term; n~l 208
where the message data is further encoded using a protocol
suitable for the transmission of information via a radio
frequency link. Such protocols are GSC (Motorola's Golay
Sequential Code) or POCSAG (Great Britain's Post Office
Code Standardisation Advisory Group). These protocols add
error detection and correction capabilities to the
information link, thus insuring the delivery of error free
data to the paging user. The paging term; n~l 208 also
serves to control the transmitter 209 (or transmitters in
a multi-cast system) and generate a queue for incoming and
outgoing paging messages. Furthermore, as previously
discussed in reference to the facsimile message input
processor 201, the graphical sections of received
facsimile messages for re-transmission can be adaptively
scaled and quantized by the paging terminal 208 to meet
the requirements of the display 113 of the selective call
receiver 100.
When the paging term; n~l 208 has completed processing
the incoming message, the transmitter 209 broadcasts a
signal modulated with data representing a selective call

WO92/11615 PCT/US91/06791

2~96i22 12
address and the message. The selective call receiver 210
detects its address, recovers the message, alerts the
user, and makes the received information available for
presentation to the user in a variety of formats including
but not limited to characters, graphics and audio.
Some specialized applications that can be
accommodated by the preferred embodiment of the selective
call information sign~ll;ng system are electronic mail,
storage, retrieval, and forwarding of facsimile messages,
and integration of text with graphics into a compound
document architecture compatible with industry standard
computer productivity software applications.
Referring to FIG. 3, the illustration shows a typical
message 300 that can be quantized, conditioned, and
transmitted in accordance with the present invention using
the selective call csmmlln;cation system discussed in
reference to FIG. 2. This exemplary message comprises
three sections that can be recognized using the mapping
feature as performed by the facsimile message input
processor 201 in FIG. 2. Section one 301 comprises a text
area using a proportionally spaced sans serif block style
font. Section two 302 comprises a graphics area that
includes characters and lines. Section three 303
comprises a text area using a proportionally spaced sans
serif block style font. The message may be entered into
the facsimile message input processor 201 using at least
one of the following methods: sc~nn; ng via the
conventional facsimile (FAX) machine 202 integrated with
the facsimile message input processor 201, sc~nn;ng via a
remote conventional facsimile machine and transmitting the
resulting Group III or Group IV FAX to the facsimile
message input processor 201 via a PSTN connection,
transmitting a compound architecture document (or simple
document) from a local or remote computer to the facsimile
messaae input processor 201 via a PSTN connectiQn using a
conventional modem, or possibly by recalling a
predetermined message from a storage device coupled to the

WO92/1161~ PCT/US91/06791

13
2~96122
facsimile message input processor 201 for transmission to
a selectedluser or group of users.
Referring to FIG. 4, when the document has been
entered 402, the facsimile message input processor 201
begins to process the document. The processor has the
option to process the document as a standard CCITT Group
III or IV facsimile or when a "Smart" mode is enabled, in
a more efficient manner as decsribed in the following
text. When the Smart mode is disabled, step 403 fails and
the facsimile message is characterized in step 404 by
creating the message header in response to the standard
facsimile data received. The message is then terminated
by an optional end of data marker. When the Smart mode is
enabled, step 403 is true and the quantized data
representing the FAX message is classified by mapping
recognizable symbols and graphic bitmaps into N sections
where N is an integer greater than or equal to one. Step
407 tests the Mth section (M = 1, 2, 3, ... N) for being a
symbol section. If the Mth section is a symbol section,
step 408 tests for alphanumeric symbols. If step 408 is
true, step 409 encodes the present symbol section as
alphanumeric object words. If step 408 fails, step 410
encodes the present symbol section as graphic object
words. When a section has completed the encoding process,
step 411 tags the section with a flag comprising its
virtual page location, data length or extent, and any
optional parameters as detailed in reference to FIG. 5B.
When the last section has been encoded, step 412 is true
and control is passed to step 404. If step 407 would have
failed, thus indicating a graphic region with no
recognizable objects, the respective region would be
encoded by step 413. If step 412 fails, then the
processor has not completed encoding all recognized
sections. When encoding is complete, the resulting
message header and data block are available for fl~rthçr
encoding in an over-the-air coding scheme for transmission
by the paging term' n~l,

WO92/11615 PCT/US9l/06791

2 B 9 ~ 2 ~ 14

Referring to FIG. 5A, the illustration shows a
signalling protocol for addressing and transmitting
facsimile data to a selective call receiver using any
facsimile standard. A FAX paging message packet comprises
a selective call address 501, a facsimile message header
502, a data block 503 having, for example, encoded Group
III or Group IV facsimile data, and an end-of-message flag
504. The end-of-message flag 504 may be omitted without
compromising the integrity of this signalling format. The
address signal 501 comprises a conventional selective call
address of a type that is well known to one of ordinary
skill in the art. The message header 502 may contain
information on the data block length, FAX protocol type,
and possibly an encryption type for use in a secure FAX
messaging system. Following the message header 502 is the
data block 503 containing standard facsimile data. This
embodiment can be used in conjunction with a conventional
FAX machine to receive FAX messages via a wireless data
channel. Furthermore, when used in conjunction with a
personal computer or the like (e.g., a laptop computer),
the selective call receiver as illustrated in FIG. 1 can
couple the received FAX message data to the computer for
storage in a file, thus allowing the user to have an
archive of the received FAX message. Since the received
FAX message data is unaltered from its native transmission
format, conventional facsimile data manipulation hardware
and software can be used to obtain a hardcopy of the
received FAX.
Referring to FIG. 5B, the illustration shows a
signalling protocol for addressing and transmitting
facsimile data to a selective call receiver in accordance
with the preferred embodiment. An exemplary FAX paging
message packet comprises a selective call address 505, a
facsimile message header 506, a first text data flag 507,
a first text data block 508r a gr~phi~s ~at~ flag 50~,
graphics data block 510, a second text data flag 511, a
second text data block 512, and an end-of-message flag
513. The end-of-message flag 513 may be omitted without

WO92/11615 PCT/US91/06791
~ 2~96i22

compromising the integrity of this signalling format. The
address signal 505 comprises a conventional selective call
address of a type that is well known to one of ordinary
skill in the art. The message header 506 may contain the
number of sections within a data block, information on the
data block length, FAX protocol type, the location of
subsequent data blocks on a virtual facsimile page and
possibly an encryption type for use in a secure FAX
messaging system. The data block comprises all
information following the facsimile message header 506 and
preceding the end-of-message flag 513. The virtual page
is a transient, memory based rendition of the final image,
whether the final image is a computer file, memory image,
or a hardcopy. The first 507 and second 511 text data
flags act as message section delimiters and may include
information such as the length of the text block and the
extent of the area required on the virtual facsimile page.
The first 508 and second 512 text data blocks contain data
representing textural symbols from a first and second text
section as mapped during the recognition process. The
graphics data flag 509 acts as a delimiter for the
graphics data block 510 and may include the length of the
graphics data block 510, the extent of the area required
on the virtual facsimile page, and other information
relevant to its contents such as the encoding method or
the use of color graphics. The graphics data block 510
may contain graphical data in at least one format such as
the modified Huffman coding used for Group III facsimile
or possibly a three-~-m~nsional chromlnAnce and llln-nAnce
color compression scheme as defined by the Joint
Photographic Experts Group (JPEG).
Referring to FIG. 6, the flow diagram illustrates the
receiving operation of the selective call receiver of FIG.
1. In step 602, the address decoder searches a received
signal for an address signal. Step 6n3 tests any
recovered address signals to determine if they correlate
with at least one predetermined address associated with
the selective call receiver. If the received address does

W O 92/11615 PC~r/US91/06791
~---
2~9~`122 16
not correlate, control is returned to step 602 and a new
search is performed. When a received address correlates
with at least one predetermined address associated with
the selective call receiver, step 604 decodes the message
header then passes control to step 605. Step 605 tests
- for the presence of a graphics data flag. If step 605 is
false, the following data block will contain symbols and
is decoded by step 606. When decoding is complete, step
607 tests for an end of message condition which may be
indicated by an end-of-message marker or the lack of
another data flag. If step 607 is false (not yet at end
of message) and step 605 is true, the following data block
will contain graphics and step 608 will decodes the
graphics. When step 607 is true, control is returned to
step 601 and the address decoder 107 resumes searching for
valid addresses.
The decoding of a text, symbol, or graphics data
block is accomplished by applying the inverse of the
procedures discussed in reference to FIG. 2. To render
the received FAX message, each coded section is decoded
and their respective position's mapped into the
presentation device's display memory. After mapping the
starting rectilinear coordinates into the presentation
device's display space, a means for re-assembling (the
processor and message memory as shown in FIG. 1) re-
assembles at least one section into a recovered document
that substantially resembles the format of the original
source document and the recovered document is presented.

Representative Drawing
A single figure which represents the drawing illustrating the invention.
Administrative Status

For a clearer understanding of the status of the application/patent presented on this page, the site Disclaimer , as well as the definitions for Patent , Administrative Status , Maintenance Fee  and Payment History  should be consulted.

Administrative Status

Title Date
Forecasted Issue Date 1996-02-27
(86) PCT Filing Date 1991-09-20
(87) PCT Publication Date 1992-06-22
(85) National Entry 1993-05-12
Examination Requested 1993-05-12
(45) Issued 1996-02-27
Deemed Expired 1999-09-20

Abandonment History

There is no abandonment history.

Payment History

Fee Type Anniversary Year Due Date Amount Paid Paid Date
Application Fee $0.00 1993-05-12
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 2 1993-09-20 $100.00 1993-06-24
Registration of a document - section 124 $0.00 1993-10-26
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 3 1994-09-20 $100.00 1994-06-22
Maintenance Fee - Application - New Act 4 1995-09-20 $100.00 1995-06-26
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 5 1996-09-20 $150.00 1996-08-19
Maintenance Fee - Patent - New Act 6 1997-09-22 $150.00 1997-08-13
Owners on Record

Note: Records showing the ownership history in alphabetical order.

Current Owners on Record
MOTOROLA, INC.
Past Owners on Record
DAVIS, WALTER LEE
WRIGHT, JAMES A.
Past Owners that do not appear in the "Owners on Record" listing will appear in other documentation within the application.
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Document
Description 
Date
(yyyy-mm-dd) 
Number of pages   Size of Image (KB) 
Abstract 1995-08-17 1 82
Cover Page 1994-03-26 1 18
Claims 1994-03-26 10 332
Drawings 1994-03-26 6 122
Description 1994-03-26 16 800
Cover Page 1996-02-27 1 17
Abstract 1996-02-27 1 54
Description 1996-02-27 16 832
Claims 1996-02-27 10 344
Drawings 1996-02-27 6 101
Representative Drawing 1998-11-10 1 10
International Preliminary Examination Report 1993-05-12 8 255
Prosecution Correspondence 1993-05-12 1 29
PCT Correspondence 1995-12-20 1 29
Fees 1996-08-19 1 68
Fees 1995-06-26 1 103
Fees 1994-06-22 1 107
Fees 1993-06-24 1 95